OK, I admit it. I watched the Dallas Reunion Special last night. Both my wife and I watched Dallas back when we were in college; it was one of our guilty pleasures back then. A few observations on the program.
The special made it appear that certain characters never existed. Why was there no mention of the third Ewing brother (Lucy’s dad). Once he went off to Knots Landing, it was as if he completely disappeared from Dallas’s panopoly. I think he showed up in one scene, but was never mentioned. Why was there no mention of Clayton Farlow (Howard Keel)? This was especially galling as Howard Keel died yesterday (although they didn’t know that at production time). He was such a classy actor; more on that later. What happened to Ray’s wife, Susan. Instead, Lucy got major screen time she didn’t deserve.
I also wish there had been mention about some of the more laughable substitutions, such as the year, never mentioned, where Barbara Bel Geddes was replaced by Donna Reed. Never noticed during the year; not even the courtesy of a shower scene. And, if I recall correctly, weren’t there multiple actors for Digger Barnes: I saw David Wayne in one scene, but I later recall that another Western character actor (Slim Pickens?) played the role. Perhaps my memory is bad.
As for the actors themselves. Some have aged well: Victoria Principal still looks good, as does Patrick Duffy. Larry Hagman seemed to be much stiffer during the show; perhaps that was just the bad script written by Henry Winkler. Ken Kercheval also appeared old. As for Charlene Tilton: Suffice it to say she hasn’t aged well—the Sally Struthers of her generation.
However cheesey this program was, it made a number of significant impacts on TV, besides having one of the best theme songs. It really introduced the notion of the season-ending cliffhanger. They wern’t common before the show; they are now. It also introduced the prime-time soap back; before Dallas, I think the last successful prime-time soap was Peyton Place on ABC in the mid-1960s. Dallas opened the door to Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, Dynasty, etc. Maybe that wasn’t a good thing, but it is interesting that the Dallas special was on opposite Desparate Housewifes, which one could call a genre descendent.
It was fun to watch, tho….
Lastly, a tribute to Howard Keel, who died yesterday. Although a lot of folks know him from Dallas, he was a musical-man par excellance. From Kiss Me Kate to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers to Annie Get Your Gun. He was a man with a voice who could sing wonderfully. His voice will be missed. He showed class even in death: the TV reporting his death noted that he didn’t want flowers—rather, he said to remember him by going to go see a show.
